Things

I either have a need to sit and write a bit, or else I have had too many B vitamins today.  Sometimes, it's a gamble.  And this isn't my only blog so sometimes it gets messy as well.

This morning I got up to get Chan up and she was up already and showered to boot.  Her interview was at 10.  I said elsewhere it was the first, but she did interview for a job last summer with the park service.  

We arrived on time (yes, she's 18 and can drive but around here, you don't get your license until you get a job and can pay for that insurance JUMP) and in she went.  The only thing I told her ahead of time was to answer verbally, don't nod or say mmmhmmm.

She was in there an hour and 20 minutes.  I sent Matt a message saying I'd had 2 heat strokes and developed 3 ulcers.  He said he was to busy throwing up (from nerves) to reply.

Chandler, and Ben, but Chandler is quiet and calm, there's no jitters or apparent thinking things through until every bit of potential mayhem has been thoroughly mapped.  I recall birthing them both, so I don't think they are adopted, but they are neither one a thing like me. Or Matt.  We both run our mouths and play Worst Case Scenario.

Anyway, out she came, her usual Sphinxy self.  I pried, some.  Sometimes a direct question yields results, sometimes she totally ignores me and hums.  After her whole life so far of this, it's just part of it.  I could get mad, but that's hardly going to help.  It always requires a direct question, there's no just opening up and telling anything and after the question is answered, she offers no more.  Except the occasional nugget like, "I always wanted a Barbie Jeep".

She allowed it 'went fine' and the interviewer used flashcards and told her about an engineer who made an electric skateboard once.  Yes.  That IS all the info I have about it.  Oh, and they made her fill out an application on paper exactly like the online application and she didn't know any of the phone numbers off hand.  I only know the number for my mechanic off the top of my head and she'd be a bad reference.  I don't come in at 3,000 miles for an oil change.  I think 5k is just fine.  My 24 year span of non-burned up engines would back that up.  OMG I am old.

We had lunch at Taziki's because food is the one area Chan has never balked at being perfectly clear on.  Even in her years-long non verbal phase, she would at least point when it came to food.  She had the stuffed grape leaves.

And, that's all I know so far.  On the way home we got boring groceries, which means none of the junk food was for me.  I mowed the front yard and where we park so that when it rains all week and the grass grows 6 inches in 3 days I can narrow my focus to the recently clipped area.  This works well for many things, BTW, not just grass.

Update when I have anything TO update.  It's a data entry position on an aerospace and defense contract with the government.  Which is a little cooler than making burgers and required a shopping spree at the thrift store for office wear.  And which means I can never see even a pic of her cubicle or a blueprint of the building or park anywhere other than directly in front of the guard shack.  But they do pay for college and she can move up the ladder if she does the work and puts in the time. So...fingers crossed.

If she doesn't get it, we are going on a road trip.

A Few Random Things

Oh my goodness, the pollen! It's so thick that breathing is hard and that sickly sweet smell-why can't privet bloom every OTHER year?  Or never.  Jake announced he was moving to an inner city so he doesn't have to be exposed ever again.  I can't say I blame him.  He's decided to be a private investigator, which is fine with me, but then he asked for help finding out how to become one.  That's ummm...well, I think you should be able to find out how to be a PI in order to be a PI!  Without asking your mama, that is.

I discovered a thing this week called Body Glide that is made to keep skin from chafing during exercise, but if I put it on my heels, they don't do that 'barely rub' thing.  I think blisters may be a thing of the past!  I have to get bigger boots for my toes-they need lots of room.  That makes them loose on my heels no matter what I do.  I am actually a little excited-foot lube!  hahaha

Murphy Jones is finding his footing here.  He got COVERED in mud (likely Nia told him to do it) and had to have a bath.  He wanted RIGHT back out and I said no, so he pooped in Chan's room.  Lesson learned. That has been his only in-house potty, so I am not complaining-just learning that when Nia wants out after a bath it's to roll in the mud again while she's still wet enough to get even more dirty.  When Murph wants out, it may not be for such nefarious reasons.

He is a BUNDLE of energy, I recall a few weeks of Nia being a morning dog before her devotion to Jake led her down that slippery slope of staying up late and sleeping until 10.  He runs around like his butt is on fire and she growls from her bed.  He hops in his bed and tries to be quiet while his front legs are stomping up and down and his whole body shakes.  She snorts and rolls over and he FIRES out like a bullet and runs all around the room grabbing everything and dropping it.  Laundry and shoes and even rugs get grabbed and dropped during his circuit, giving the whole room a swirly off-kilter look.  We have nearly moved him to just the dogs toys being under cyclone attack, but the rug has this knobby bit...it needs badly to be chomped, really.  

Totally random things happening of late:

My Mother's Day card, Chandler calls me 'Mama Llama'
See how the middle llamaling has freckles?  

Katy arranged a tour of Curse, a Huntsville-based gaming company.
It looked a good bit like Katy's house!
In the top pic, the kids are looking at the real-time stat board for the company.  They get a LOT of traffic and have just rolled out Curse Voice for gamers to talk to one another.  It's independent of the game itself, so you don't lose contact info if you leave that particular game.

Of course we stopped by the Asian store!

Our usual pastry roll and yogurt drink.

We got Gina juice and dried squid to try this time  The juice was bitter and the squid was very oily/fishy.  I hated it!  The dogs LOVED it and so did Matt.

Various weather.  Taken over a 2 hour period.

No falls!

Got home and Murfer and Nia had dug little holes in the 2 gaps in my new rock/paver thing by the sidewalk.  Grrrrr!

Tomorrow is Lake Day 2.0 to make up for missing it a couple weeks ago when Birdie was sick.
Thursday I am going to look at the Cahaba lilies!

Spent MOST of today cleaning up/out my camper.  It's for sale and we had a guy pester the snot out of us to come see it and when the time came to come see it-he changed his mind about wanting one.  More Grrrrrr!  He did not even let us know, Matt finally called and his mail box was full, so he paged our number and dude called to see who we were!  Obviously NOT the right person for Poppy, but still-I bailed on a hike I really wanted to do today to get the camper cleaned up to sell and nada.  Disappointing.

Anyway, someone else wants to come see it next week, so maybe she will be the right one.  I got a better vibe from her e-mails anyway.  Keep your fingers crossed, Poppy really needs a family that will use her more, she's going to fall apart sitting out there only used a few nights a year.

Spring Trimming and Mowing!

A hawk, we are pretty sure red tailed, we saw on the way home from the grocery store.

Thursday I got a hair cut.  I was done rocking the Snape look.

I was inspired and trimmed up Chan as well!

She could hardly be any cuter.

Gorgeous Sunny Days at Home-updated

Yesterday, Chandler turned 17.

Today, we took rainbow photos to celebrate!

There were a few dogs hanging out as well:

Kuma's ear is stuck up like that, he won't lay it down!  hehehe

He seems to be stone deaf in one ear, he cocks his head if he hears something.

He's not a working dog, so it's no big deal-he's just hard to call!  He does not even flicker his ear when you whistle, but he can hear the food bag before he sees it and he comes when we clap.

Pretty puppy!

Sweet Jessie!  She's losing weight!

I am so glad, she's moving WAY more easily!

Update:
Henry became snappy and bit me a couple of times.  We took him to the vet for a check.  He has several tumors, one that seems to be causing the limp and one near his 'deaf' ear that may be pressing that canal.  They did not find them the first exam because he was covered in cockleburrs when we got him.  His fur is like wool, too.  It was hard to find them even when they started actively searching.  The vet gave him a 6 month window with treatment, mainly pain management.  He's so old, there was not much point in aggressively trying to prolong his life with surgery.

We had a long talk with everyone involved and opted to return him for humane euthanasia and we will be able to pick out a new dog.  I don't know if we will, every attempt for that 4th dog has ended badly.

Sixteen

Chandler officially turned 16 at 11:01 a.m. February 10th.  She was in the kitchen with me making red velvet pancakes and for the first time in her life, I did not get a picture of her the instant she got a year older.

She made a butter and powdered sugar glaze.
I instantly regained every ounce that I may have lost during our 19 mile weekend

At rehearsal that night, they sang the song and then we all met up over at Suzette's house at nearly 9 to have cupcakes and ice cream.

Can't let Chan hog all the spotlight!

These three...my favorite girls in the world.  :)

We have birthday travel plans coming up, if the weather will allow.